BIM on a live project

This case study looks at how Manchester City Council’s supply chain is utilising BIM on their schools’ programme. It looks at one of these schools, the St Margaret’s refurbishment project, through the design and specification phases.

1. Designing with objects

Following the agreement of
responsibilities and deliverables in
the plan of work, the team began
work on the design and specification
process.With respect to the design,
all members of the team modelled
the project in 3D. Both generic and
manufacturer objects from the NBS
National BIM Library were used on
the project. Examples of where
generic objects were used included
engineering services components
where the overall system was
being specified by performance.
For example, for the ventilation
system, the overall system
performance was tightly specified –
but just the type of product that
should serve these systems was
specified. As the product selection
was left to the Contractor, generic
objects such as the wall-mounted
axial fan were used for the ventilation
system, as shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 - Use of generic BIM objects within the design

Where manufacturers were selected
by the design team, manufacturer
objects were used. Examples of this
include ceilings, door sets, cubicles
and floor coverings. Figure 1.2 shows
an example of a manufacturer BIM
object that formed part of the ceiling
system in the architectural design.

Having standardised BIM objects
in terms of naming convention,
classification and the property sets
within the objects were considered
essential to the project team and the
client. These rules were agreed in the
BIM Execution Plan when the project
team was first assembled.

Figure 1.2 - Use of manufacturer BIM objects within the design

2. Well-structured specifications

All of the main disciplines used NBS
Create for their project specifications.
Having a consistent specification
structure and format across all of the
disciplines created consistency for
the team, and also for the Contractor
who then uses these specifications.

The specifications were a mixture of
performance and full specifications.
For the architecture, an example of
a performance specification was the
cycle shelter, where the Contractor
had the responsibility of submitting
suitable proposals based on a
durability requirement of 20 years
and appropriate inclusive design
considerations. An example of a full
specification was the modular ceiling
system, where each product specified
was from a specific manufacturer’s
product range. These products were
added to the specification using the
NBS Plus functionality where the
latest manufacturer information can
be inserted into the specification
from the cloud.

A final method of specification used
on the project is illustrated in Figure
2.1. In this example, the concrete
foundation system was fully specified,
but the manufacturer selection for the
individual products was left to the
Contractor, provided that these
Figure 2.1 – A full specification for a concrete foundation system selections met the criteria specified.

Figure 2.1 – A full specification for a concrete foundation system

3. Co-ordinating model with specification

As expected on BIM projects, the
design models were coordinated
at regular intervals to avoid clashes
between the architecture and the
engineering. In addition to this, the
models and the specifications were
also coordinated.
Figure 3.1 shows the free NBS
Plug-in being used to link the model
and specification. In this example,
the floor covering to the school gym
is selected in the design, and the
specification for this item is being
viewed in the context of the model.

4. Published output

Within the BIM Level 2 process,
.pdf is still the contractual output
format. Each of the specifications
was published to .pdf format and
presented with the brand of the
organisation who had responsibility
for each specification.

Figure 4.1 shows the three
specifications for architecture,
engineering services and structural
engineer in .pdf format.

Figure 4.1 shows the three specifications for architecture, engineering services and structural engineer in .pdf format.

5. Future developments

Going forward, it will not just be the
design team that benefit from the
coordination between model and
specification. Emerging technologies
such as the cloud and modern web
browsers allow complex information
to visualised without installing
any software.

Within the NBS BIM Toolkit, this capability
is now being tested. Within each project,
users may upload their models and
specifications to allow other members
of the project team (such as the client,
the cost consultant or the Contractor)
to query and understand this information
in ways not possible through traditional
paper methods of working.

Having project teams utilise the NBS
BIM ecosystem has benefits for the
designers, but it also has benefits for
the client and wider project team.
Alistair Burns, Design Manager with
the Capital Programmes and Property
Team for the Council commented:
‘As a client running a number of
construction projects it is essential
that our various supply chain
partners have a consistent process
for developing information through
each project. With this current
secondary school programme we’ve
been able to look at the BIM Level 2
process and implement an approach
that we are very happy with’.

By utilising NBS we can have a standardised approach on our BIM projects. Objects within the model are consistently structured.

Jane Shaw, Design Manager for ISG,
commented: ‘As a contractor we need
consistent information from each
member of the team. By utilising NBS
we can have a standardised approach
on our BIM projects. Objects within
the model are consistently structured.
The specifications from each discipline
have the same structure and it is clear
where design responsibility lies and
where as a contractor choices and
proposals are required’.

Key benefits included:

A standardised approach to
objects within the design models.

Better coordination between
the drawings generated from the
models and the specification.

A consistent set of specification
documentation from each
discipline for the Contractor
to take advantage of.

Mark Bew MBE looks back at the BIM Level 2 journey, the move towards BIM Level 3 and the start of the Digital Built Britain programme - heralding a new generation of smart infrastructure and construction.